Electroplating rack



' Dec. 8, 1970 ,5. P. FREEDLAND I 3,545,090

ELECTROPLATING RACK j Filed Sept. L1, 1968 l IV] I.

I I I FIG. I

INVENTOR BENJAMIN e FREEDLAND ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,546,090 ELECTROPLATING RACK Benjamin P. Freedland, 4965 E. 9 Mile Road, Detroit, Mich. 48091 Filed Sept. 11, 1968, Ser. No. 759,076 Int. Cl. C23b /70 US. Cl. 204297 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An electrically conductive plating rack having a frame with sides and cross pieces, a hook to support the frame, a support on one of the cross pieces and an elongated upwardly concave shaped saddle means on the support and lying in a plane generally paralleled to the plane of the frame and corresponding to surface areas of a workpiece for supporting the same by gravity within and upon said frame.

Heretofore, one of the objections to plating devices for supporting workpieces in an electroplating bath has been difficulty of fixedly supporting and retaining the workpiece within a plating rack or frame in such manner which employed spring means anchoring the workpiece in place.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved electroplating rack for supporting one or a plurality of workpieces in a form of a frame which includes upon suitable supports of which there may be one or more, one or more saddle means which are elongated and irregular in shape so as to present a large supporting area for engaging the workpiece by which not only is the work piece supported by gravity within the frame but wherein an enlarged surface area of engagement with the workpiece establishes good electrical conductivity therethrough.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved electroplating rack having a series of cross pieces as a part of the frame, and mounted upon each cross piece except the uppermost, support members for mounting opposed pairs of arcuate workpiece engaging saddles adapted to project up into and around and supportably engage corresponding surface portions of the workpiece and wherein the saddles are generally in planes parallel to the plane of the rack for supporting the workpiece in a corresponding plane.

These and other objects will be seen from the following specification and claims in conjunction with the appended drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the present electroplating rack.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view thereof showing the mounting and supporting of a workpiece thereon to be plated.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary section taken in the direction of arrows 33 of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawing the present electroplating rack generally indicated at includes an elongated hollow electrically conductive and rigid metalic frame 12 and which includes upright spaced sides 14 and the cross pieces 16, 18 and 20, FIG. 1.

The respective cross pieces each have right angular end flanges 22 to engage portions of the frame sides and are suitably secured thereto as by fasteners 24 which may be bolts, rivets or welds for illustration.

Connecting parts are similarly secured in various parts of the frame or rack and repetition of the fastening means will not be repeated though designated in the drawing, FIG. 1.

A hook means is provided for the rack which in the illustrative embodiment includes a pair of upright hooks 3,546,090 Patented Dec. 8, 1970 26 mounted upon the top cross piece 16 and suitable secured thereto including reinforcements 28.

Auxiliary secondary and oppositely extending hooks 30 are secured to upper portions of hooks 26.

Each of the supporting cross pieces 18 and 20 of which there could be additional cross pieces as desired and which are adapted for a load bearing function include the angular corner reinforcements 32 fixedly secured to portions of the frame sides and cross pieces as shown, FIG. 1.

Extending transversely at each of the reinforcements corresponding to each of the cross pieces 18 and 20 are elongated electrically conductive supports 34 which intermediate their ends are secured by suitable fasteners to central portions of the corner reinforcements.

Upon the end portions of the supports 34 are provided a pair of symmetrical parallel similarly shaped but irregularly shaped saddle means or saddles 38 which are of a shape, arcuate or circular or other irregular shape corresponding to the corresponding surface areas of the workpiece to be supported thereon.

The saddles 36 have appreciable and considerable con tact areas 38 for suitable supporting engagement with the workpiece W, FIGS. 2 and 3 and for providing good electrical conduction thereto as a part of the electroplating process details of which is omitted herein. As fragmentarily shown in FIG. 2, a suitable dielectric covering 40; namely, a nonelectrically conductive cover made of polyvinyl chloride, rubber or neoprene is applied to substantially all surface areas of the frame, the cross pieces, the books, the reinforcements, the supports as well as the saddles, with the exception of the contact areas as follows:

Referring to FIG. 1, the important contact areas of the saddles are the areas 38 shown in FIG. 1 which are coextensive with and shaped similar to the shape of the outside surface of the workpiece W to be supported thereon. The additional contact areas would be the under surfaces of support engaging hooks 26 by which an electrical circuit may be completed through internal portions of the plating rack.

It is understood that all of the parts of the plating rack are electrically conductive as for example, the frame, the cross pieces, the reinforcements, the supports and the saddles in order to adapt the present rack for electroplating or any related purpose.

As shown in FIG. 3 as well as in FIG. 1, the respective corresponding opposed and spaced saddles 36 lie in planes respectively which are parallel to the plane of the rack and accordingly generally support the workpiece W in a similar plane, FIGS. 1 and 2.

By the present construction and in view of the plural mounting an engagement of the saddles with the workpiece it is seen that the workpiece involved are supported by gravity and do not require the need of clamps or other spring means for holding the same immoveably within the plating rack.

While a pair of saddles are shown upon each of the supports 34, it is contemplated that the saddle means of the present invention could incorporate one or a pair of parallel and symmetrical support elements of a shape and surface area so as to correspond to and supportably engage similarly shaped portion of a workpiece to be plated.

It is contemplated as a part of the electroplating process that portions of the workpiece shown will not be electroplated and accordingly suitable masking means or shields are employed for this purpose.

In the electroplating contemplated for use with the present plating rack, normally the workpiece in the illustrative form is the vehicle wheel wherein portions of the rim are to be electroplated. Normally this process includes an initial nickel plating followed by a finish chrome plating and wherein the shield or masking means employed limit the plating to those areas of the workpiece desired to be plated.

It is contemplated that the present plating rack is adapted for the plating of any shape of object and wherein the saddle means or saddles employed are of appreciable area and of a shape conformed to substantial area portions of the workpiece to be supported within the plating rack so that the workpiece during plating or the plurality of workpieces lie generally within the plane of the rack or in a plane parallel thereto.

Having described my invention, reference should now be had to the following claims.

I claim:

1. An electroplating rack comprising a hollow elongated electrically conductive rigid frame of rectangular shape including spaced sides and at least two cross pieces;

electrically conductive hook means upon the upper cross piece adapted for supporting the rack within a plating bath;

a conductive support means upon a cross piece other than said upper cross piece;

spaced angular conductive corner reinforcements interconnecting the sides of the frame and a cross piece other than said upper cross piece;

said support means including a support centrally mounted on each reinforcement intermediate the ends of the reinforcements and extending transversely thereof;

saddle means lying in a plane parallel to the plane of the frame for engaging and supporting an elongated conductive workpiece;

said saddle means including a pair of parallel spaced upwardly concave, shaped saddles mounted transversely upon the ends of each support;

the saddles on opposing supports lying respectively in planes parallel to the plane of said frame to provide a plurality of spaced workpiece contact and support areas;

and a dielectric layer enclosing and covering all parts of said frame, hook means support and saddle means, wih the exception of contact areas on said hook means and workpiece engaging contact areas on said saddle means.

2. In the plating rack of claim 1, said saddle being arcuate in shape to supportably engage a wheel drum.

Belke, Plating Rack Manual, 1947, pp. 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, and 49, relied upon.

JOHN H. MACK, Primary Examiner S. S. KANTER, Assistant Examiner 

